Postage stamp-examining appliance



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ALEXANDER SUTTER INVENTOR April 14,1959 A. SUTTER 2,881,656

POSTAGE STAMP-EXAMINING APPLIANCE Filed July 15, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 279 g h" h ALEXANDER SUTTER INVENTOR United States Patent POSTAGESTAMP-EXAMINING APPLIANCE Alexander Sutter, Basel, SwitzerlandApplication July 15, 1957, Serial No. 671,758

1 Claim. (CI. 88-14) The present invention relates to improvements inpostage stamp examining appliances.

The appliance disclosed by the present invention is characterized by abase comprising a stamp rest, by a supporting element disposed on saidbase outside said rest, and a holder for a magnifying-glass mounting,said holder being disposed on said supporting element in pivotablerelation, being pivotable in a plane parallel to said stamp restand'being movable with respect to the axis of said supporting element.

One form of the invention and a constructional modification thereof areshown, by way of example, in the drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the appliance.

Fig. 2 is a section on the line IIII of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a partial sideview of Fig. l and 2, and

Fig. 4 shows a similar sideview as Fig. 3, in which, however, the baseis modified.

The appliance shown in Figs. 1-3 comprises a housing-like base a onwhich is provided a stamp rest b, for example made of rubber, inclinedwith respect to the standface. A supporting element in the form of a pinc is disposed on base a outside rest b. Pin c is movably mounted in abore a of base a and secured against I rotation by means of a crosspin cwhich is movable in a groove a. The central portion of pin 0 is formedas screw c and carries a knurled adjusting sleeve d by means of whichpin c is movable under the action of a spring e. A clamping arm 1 at oneend is pivoted to the upper end of pin 0 and at the other end comprisesa bearing for a pivot pin g which is provided on a holder g. In holder gare provided two coaxial bores g and, between the latter, a clampingspring g Holder g serves for taking up a pluggable magnifying-glassmounting h.

The latter comprises two magnifying glasses h and h of different focallength and, by means of a plug pin it, is rotatably mounted in the boresg of holder g and held therein by spring g Pin 11 further comprises acrosspin h to which is associated a recess g in holder g, which recessforms two limiting stops. In base a is mounted a drum 1 which isprovided with comparative markings for defining the marginal serrationsof the stamp, and said drum is rotatable by means of the setting knob 1"against the action of a brake spring I Said comparative markings arevisible from outside through a window a provided in base a.

In using the appliance described above, the stampto be Patented Apr. 14,1959 examined is put on the stamp rest b and may, if desired, be heldthereon, by means of a glass frame I which comprises two plug lobes P.To such end, two slots a are provided in base a beside rest b. As holderg is pivotally mounted on clamping arm f, and the latter is pivotallymounted on supporting pin c, the magnifying-lens mounting it ispivotable in a plane parallel to stamp rest b and movable with respectto the axis of pin c, the magnifying-glass mounting h being locatable inits position by tightening a screw f By turning mounting h in holder g,one or the other magnifying glass is brought into the position of use,its distance fromt rest b being substantially maintained coercively. Forthe fine adjustment of these distances, the adjusting sleeve d on pin cis provided. Drum i serves for determining the marginal serrations ofthe stamp. For this purpose, the stamp is moved on to window a of base atowards drum i. When rotating drum 1', comparative markings appear inthe window, which are compared with marginal serrations, the glassesagain serving as viewing aids.

In Fig. 4 is shown a constructional modification. Here a bottom part mis pivotally mounted in base a by means of a pin m Said bottom partcomprises a cam part m which coacts with a cam disc n pivoted on a pin11 to base a. Cam disc n is rotatable by means of an adjusting knob nwhereby the inclined stamp rest is brought into a horizontal position ofuse. In this position, a tray p which contains a liquid for renderingvisible the stamps water mark, may be put on rest b. In this case, themagnifying glasses may serve for viewing the water mark. When not used,trap p may be accommodated in base a, as shown by dash-and-dot lines inFig. 4.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

An appliance for examining postage stamps, comprising a base having astamp supporting member thereon,

'a supporting element on said base and spaced from said stamp supportingelement, and a magnifying glass mounting comprising two magnifyingglasses of different focal lengths, said glasses being disposed at anangle to each other, said mounting being rotatably mounted on saidsupporting element about an axis parallel to the plane of said stampsupporting element and parallel to the References Cited in the flle ofthis patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 874,049 Borsch Dec. 17, 1907 1,875,134Pfund Aug. 30, 1932 2,054,697 Fiala Sept. 15, 1936 2,796,803 StegemanJune 25, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 447,171 Great Britain May 13, 1936 563,973Great Britain Sept. 7, 1944

